WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Howard Eisley scored 13 of his 17 points
in the second half, including a key 3-pointer with 9:06 left in
the fourth quarter, as the Utah Jazz posted their sixth straight
win, 95-87 over the Washington Wizards.

Eisley scored all of his second-half points during a 4:47
stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters. But the
Wizards, who trailed by 16 in the opening moments, got within
73-70 on Otis Thorpe's layup with 10:18 to play.

The Wizards had a chance to creep even closer moments later, but
Thorpe committed a turnover and Eisley made Washington pay by
drilling a 3-pointer that gave the Jazz a 76-70 advantage.
Shandon Anderson followed with a free throw and Karl Malone hit
two from the line to push the lead to nine and the Wizards came
no closer than six down the stretch.

"I just come in and do my job," Eisley said. "I help out anyway
I can."

Malone had 24 points and seven assists for the Jazz, who matched
their longest winning streak of the season, having also won six
straight to start the campaign. Utah's 19 wins are one more
than Miami for tops in the league.

Rod Strickland, who missed the previous six games due to a
pulled groin, scored 21 points while dishing out 11 assists and
Juwan Howard added 20 points for Washington, which lost for the
fourth time in five games and fell to 6-7 at the MCI Center this
season.

"I think (Strickland) did great considering he's been out six
games," said Wizards coach Bernie Bickerstaff. "Getting 39
(minutes) out of him right now is pretty good."

Jeff Hornacek's 17-footer capped a 12-2 run with 4 1/2 minutes
left in the third quarter that gave the Jazz a 61-50 lead. But
the Wizards slowly chipped away and twice got within three
points before the end of the period. A 3-pointer by Strickland
with 45 seconds left made it 68-65.

After a 3-pointer by Eisley, Mitch Richmond's 3-pointer with 22
seconds to go in the quarter gave the Jazz a 71-68 lead entering
the fourth.

"We made runs, but they also made runs," Richmond said. "We had
to stop them from doing that, but it just didn't happen. We
couldn't knock the big shot down."

Eisley's 14-footer in the opening moments of the final period
made it a five-point game, but Thorpe's layup brought the
Wizards within three.

Eisley, a 6-2 guard, went 7-of-11 from the field, 3-of-3 from
beyond the arc and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.

"That is a major surprise," he said of his rebounds. "I don't
remember doing that."

"I didn't know he could do that," Malone added.

Stockton and Hornacek had 12 points apiece and Greg Ostertag
grabbed 12 rebounds for Utah, which shot 50 percent (34-of-68)
from the field and held a 48-40 advantage on the boards.

"We can't afford to play like that," Malone said. "The finish
was decent, but I think we played sloppy basketball. We have to
put these type of games away."

Strickland gave the Wizards a 2-0 advantage 32 seconds into the
contest with a layup, but it was their only lead of the game as
Utah scored the next 18 points. Malone had eight points during
the spurt and Utah was leading by 16 after Hornacek made two
free throws with 5:44 left in the first quarter.

"It's encouraging when you jump out like that, but you have to
hold it better, and we should have," said Stockton.

The Wizards got within 24-18 at the end of the first quarter,
but the Jazz used a 10-2 spurt to open the second, grabbing a
34-20 advantage on Thurl Bailey's seven-footer with 7:46 to go
before the break.

Richmond netted 13 points and Calbert Cheaney 12 for the
Wizards, who shot 39 percent (35-of-89) and were just 12-of-21
from the foul line.

"We've got to play better, that's the bottom line," Strickland
said. "That team has been together for a while. They execute
well and they always play the same. They make you run, they
make you earn it."